I actually did it!!

I actually finally made a decision on my spring marathon :)

The most exciting news of the day is that I picked and registered for a spring marathon!

I will be running the Windermere Marathon on May 19th in Spokane. This just feels right! I graduated from high school in Spokane and although my parents no longer live there it will be fun to go back. I did not run in high school in fact I hated running. So funny how things can change :) The really fun thing is that I decided on my run today that I was for sure doing this marathon and then got home and found out through facebook that 2 of my really good friends from high school are running too! I am finally soooo excited about a race. Goals for the marathon, ?????, you know I can't make too many decisions in one day. In all seriousness I would love to PR, by how much, now that is the question I need to figure out.

I also joined Team Athena a couple of weeks ago. I have been running a few times on Saturdays with a group from the Team including Nikki Rafie, who is the coach and also winner of a few Portland marathons. It is a all womens running group with women of all ages and paces. The team meets on Tuesday nights for track workouts. Last night I went to my 1st ever track workout. Well it just so happened that last night was mile time trial night. Ughh, really? This was the going to be my 1st experience with track. I was really nervous and not looking forward to it at all but I thought it would be good for me. I have never raced a mile so I had no idea what to shoot for or what to expect.

After doing a good warmup with strides and drills we lined up to race this mile. Honestly I would rather run 13 miles. I know that is weird but I m a distance runner, not a sprinter.

I was going to try though, I was up for the challenge.

I did it, it hurt a little. I have not has the feeling that my lungs were on fire in a while. Not quite the time that I hoped for but a good place to start and it is nice to know where I am at and hopefully at the next time trial I can improve after doing some speed work.

I also got 3 new pairs of shoes :) 2 pairs of Brooks Launches because I love them and they came out with a new color combo the week after I ordered the other pair and I want to make sure that they don't run out of my size. I also ordered a pair of Brooks Pure Flow. They are awesome! I will be rotating between the Launches and the Pure Flows.

Today I saw on daily Mile that I ran 301 miles last month :) That is definitely a new high for me:) It helps that for 5 days I was in paradise (The Bahamas) with no kids and no responsibilities! I will leave you with a few photos from my fabulous vacay!

No decisions yet :)

So I have not made any race decisions for the spring yet, I just continue to train for a race. I really need to pick one. I intend to make a decision this week when I am lying on the white sandy beach in the Bahamas. So looking forward to not wearing gloves, long sleeves and running tights on my runs of the next few days.

Running has been going well. I ran 69 miles last week, and yes that 1 mile it would have taken to make it 70 does bug me a little. I am a neurotic runner, you know exactly what I am talking about :). But I decided to not be so neurotic that I jumped on the treadmill in my garage at 11pm. Instead I told myself tha t a number does not define me as a runner. Quality not just quantity is what it will take to get that new marathon Pr.

That is really it. Stay tuned for my decision and pics of my vacay :)

2011-unexpected success :)

Yesterday I ended the year with a great early morning 16 miler with the Team Athena girls. If it were not for them I would have ended up watching Felicity on my new Ipad (thanks honey :)) while logging more boring treadmill miles. It was really icy this morning and I was a little afraid of falling but the girls would not let me wuss out. It is so nice to have running partners that join in the fun with you :)

I logged my last miles of 2011 in my running journal and then added up all the miles :) Also hit a milestone of 71 miles this week :) No I am not in the middle of marathon training, nor do I have a race planned. Do I need to pick a marathon, YES!!! Anyway it was fun to reflect on the year and think about all that has happened and how those 2700 miles have kept me sane through motherhood, building a house, selling a house, and all of my party planning craziness.

My fancy running journal :)

2011 was a very successful year for me as far as running goes. I guess I realized that I have more potential than I ever thought I did. This year I got more serious about my running, I want to see what I can really do, how far I can push myself. I am starting to realize that I need to set some pretty big goals for myself. That is the only way I am going to reach my potential. I have met some pretty amazing women runners this past year and it is because of them that I have started to believe in big dreams.

My 2011 races

Del Sol Ragnar Relay female ultra team- we took 1st (huge challenge, very rewarding :) I ran 40 miles in 22 hours.

Run For Risa 1/2 marathon-1st female

Helvetia 1/2 marathon- 4th female overall, 1st in AG, PR 1:32:05

Sauvie Island 1/2 marathon 7th overall ( I think), 1st in AG, new PR 1:27:49

American Fork 1/2 marathon 2nd AG, new Pr 1:27:34

Hood to Coast Relay

St. George Marathon with my sister :)

Runaway Pumpkin 1/2 marathon 3rd female, 1st in AG

It was a successful year ad I am excited to see what 2012 holds :) My biggest goal is a new marathon PR. I am not quite done deciding what my racing is going to look like in 2012 but I am close. Maybe my next post :) Decisions, decisions :)

Let's be honest...

I really suck at blogging!!!! I am a runner who occasionally blogs, not a blogger who runs :) Now that we have that straight, I do have a new goal. I would love to keep my new goal of blogging once a week. So we will see how it goes :)

This weeks workouts looked like this:

Monday- 8 miles on the waterfront w/Nicole 8 min pace

pm-3 treadmill miles 8:30 pace

Tuesday-9.5 speedwork on the treadmill

Wed- 9 miles with lots of hills

Thurs- 9 recovery miles around 8:15 pace

Fri- 11 miles (Ran all 3 courses of the Turkey Trot that I am putting together) 7:30 average pace

Sat- 11 miles 7:25 pace

Total miles-60.5

I am having a really hard time planning my racing schedule for next year. After a lot of self reflection I feel that this is pretty reflective of my whole life right now. I feel like for so many years my life was pretty much planned and I followed the plan. For the 1st time in my married life I have no plans to get pregnant, I am not pregnant, nursing, or taking care of lots of little kids. My 3 oldest are pretty self sufficient and I find myself with more free time. I could easily fill that but I want to fill it with things that are going to help me accomplish my goals. I have been trying to figure out what my goals are in this new phase of my life. What do I want to accomplish in life? in my running?

Midlife crisis? I would not call it a crisis, just a crossroads. My goal is to find balance between all of the things that I love and are most important to me. So as I figure out who I want to be and what I want to do I am giving myself a break and have decided not to choose any races right now. Instead I am to do some research and deciding what it is I would like to accomplish next year in my running life, then I will be able to decide what races will help me reach my goals. I also would really like to get back to the fun of it all :)

Most of all I want these guys

to know that they are the most important things in my life.

Hopefully this next week brings more clarity of mind and lots of running fun!!

Runaway Pumpkin 1/2 marathon

My racing this year has exceeded my expectations! I have accomplished more that I thought I was capable of doing so I did not expect this race to be what it was. What is it you ask? The race that would test my mental and physical strength. I had not planned on racing again this year but when Nicole suggested that I come run this race with her of course I had a hard time saying no. I am glad that I did this race, it was fun to run with Nicole and I do love races. My life has been really crazy lately. We just moved and October is already the craziest month for me as a Mom, lots of birthdays and activities. My running has not suffered, I always seem to find time to fit it in, it keeps me sane. So what the heck happened yesterday? From the time I registered I just could not wrap my head around this race. I think that I have been so physically and mentally tired over the past month that the thought of racing hard was not appealing but I really thought that at race time I would be able to get my head in the game.

Well...

I got up at 4:45am after about 5 hours of sleep, not the greatest but that is usually how it is, right? Anyway I got all my stuff together and left to meet Nicole and then head down to Lebanon, Oregon. We had to make several potty stops but that is always better than having to stop in the race :) We got there with plenty of time to spare.

All smiles waiting for the bus to take us to the start line :) We picked up our packets, dropped our bags, did a little 1 mile warmup, decided we were overdressed, picked our bags back up, changed clothes, used the potty again, then we were standing at the start line :) I still was not feeling it, not a good sign. Still hopeful that once the race started that the adrenaline would kick in and I would love every mile.

Mile 1- Actually felt good and easy. I was hopeful that it would just get better.

6:49 pace (Maybe too fast but I figured I would atleast try and PR and if I was going to do that my average pace needed to be sub 6:40)

Mile 2-Still feeling pretty good but things were starting to roll. Toward the end of the mile, my legs were starting to ache a little. I started to worry a little.

6:51 pace

Mile 3- I really started to question what I was doing, it was getting harder to hold my pace and so I slowed a little.

6:56 pace

Mile 4-I remember Nicole told me that between miles 4-8 there was a small elevation gain. There were more rolling hills than I expected and the thought of 9 more miles seemed inpossible to me.

7:01 pace

When my watch beeped at 4 miles I came to a complete stop, I really did not want to go on. I was not going to quit but I wanted to sit down and have a time out. What the heck , who does that in a race? I guess I do.

Mile 5- I decided to keep on moving but it was still tough. I just kept plugging along. I thought about listening to my ipod but decided against it. (I wish I had!!) My tantrum cost me some time. :)

7:22 pace

Miles 6-8 All about digging deep, knew that if I could male it through the half way point that mentally this would give me a boost mentally. I was finally able to pass the one woman that I could see if front of me. That felt good :)

7:10

7:07

7:11

Mile 9- I felt good during this mile, I was starting to remember why I loved running :)

6:53

Mile 10-Only a 5K left :) I started passing some more guys and that was encouraging.

6:58

Mile 11-I needed a kick so I decided to plug in. Why did I not turn my music on sooner? I usually do not listen to my ipod during races but I needed it! Nothing a little "Push It" can't fix :)

7:02

Mile 12 & 13 were tough but I knew I was almost done and I was passing a few more guys :) I could see the finish area and I had a little bit left in the tank. I crossed the finish line and they announced my name and that I was 3rd female. I was happy about that!

7:15

6:52

1:31:53 3rd female, 1st in my age group

As soon as I got my medal, I knew that Nicole was not far behind me and I started to jog so that I could cheer her on. Sure enough I saw her coming. I yelled for her to push it. She was flying, that girl has a fierce kick!

After the race :) Do you like my halloween arm warmers?

This was an awesome race, especially for it's first year. They had quite the spread of goodies after the race and great door prizes and gift baskets for the top three finishers.

Nicole and I both took 1st in our age groups and got these lovely glasses

I have had plenty of time to think about this race and while initially I was not happy that I had such a hard time it has made me realize that I needed this race. It has made me realize I am not superwoman, I can not be on everyday and that is okay. We all have runs where things just feel hard and sometimes it happens on race day! I am happy with my time, it was not my fastest half but I fought harder for this one than any other that I have run. I am happy that I did not give up, and believe me I wanted to.

Boxed in

I am in the middle of packing my house, not fun! I hate packing and moving. Feeling very boxed in!

Just a glimpse of part of my garage. Where did all this stuff come from is what I keep thinking;)

In an effort to relieve some stress today I decided to do a speed workout. For some of you this is not a big deal but for me this is the first time I have done structured speedwork. I did not really have a plan but I wanted to push myself so I texted Amanda from Runninghood and asked her if she had a good speed workout. I knew that she had done many a speed workout on the treadmill and figured that she would have something for me, I was right. :) Thanks Amanda! I was already on the treadmill when I read her response. So here is how my first speed workout looked-

2 mile warmup @ 7:47 pace

2K @6:58

recover for 1/2 mile @ 7:47

1K@6:27

recover for 1/2 mile@7:47 (got the text from Amanda and decided to try the 10x400's)

first 6x400's@6:00 pace with 400 recovery @7:42 pace

Last 4x400's @6:08pace with 400 recovery@7:42 pace

Cooldown

This kicked my butt!!! I had sweat dripping from everywhere!

I know I have a lot to learn but I am ready to start pushing my limits :)

So today I am grateful for the stress of moving and feeling "boxed in" because it pushed me to push myself to my 1st real speed workout :) Alright back to packing :)

St George Marathon 2011-We were there!

I ran the St. George marathon last Saturday with my sister Katie. So proud of her!!! Character shines when things don't go according to plan. She fought for that finish and we were there Katie. Love you!